Project Owner
Pecho LD Energy Storage, LLC (joint venture of Hydrostor, Inc. and Meridiam Infrastructure Partners)
Docket Number
21-AFC-01
Capacity
400 MW
Location
San Luis Obispo County
Technology
A-CAES
Project Status
Withdrawn
Project Type
Application for Certification
Project Description

The Pecho Energy Storage Center (PESC) would be located at 2284 Adobe Road, San Luis Obispo County. PESC would be developed by Pecho LD Energy Storage, LLC, a joint venture of Hydrostor, Inc. and Meridiam Infrastructure Partners.

PESC would be a nominal 400-megawatt (MW), 3,200 MW-hour (MWh), advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) facility capable of flexibly charging and discharging daily as well as on a real time basis. PESC would compress air into a purpose-built underground cavern, using electricity from the grid, most likely off-peak, excess, or surplus electricity. The heat from the air compression process would be captured and stored in an aboveground thermal storage system. The compressed air then would  be stored in the cavern under the pressure of a hydrostatic head created by an onsite, aboveground water reservoir.  When electricity would be needed by the grid, the compressed air would be released using the assistance of the hydrostatic head pressure, reheated using the stored thermal energy, and directed through aboveground turbine-generators to produce electricity. PESC would provide fossil fuel-free and greenhouse gas emissions-free electricity.

PESC’s major equipment would include:  four all-electric air compressor trains, four 100-MW air-driven power turbine generators, heat exchangers, thermal heat storage, an underground compressed air storage cavern, an aboveground water reservoir, auxiliary facilities, and a 3.4-mile electrical interconnection to the existing Morro Bay Switching Station. 

Presiding Member: J. Andrew McAllister, Ph.D.

Associate Member: Noemi Gallardo

Hearing Officers: Ralph Lee and Reneé Webster-Hawkins

Power Plant Certification and Exemption Processes

The CEC has the exclusive authority to certify all thermal power plants 50 megawatts (MW) and larger and related facilities proposed for construction in California. The Application for Certification (AFC) process is a certified regulatory program under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As a certified regulatory program, the CEC does not prepare environmental impact reports (EIRs) in an AFC proceeding, but instead prepares environmental assessment documents that are functionally equivalent to EIRs. A certificate issued by the CEC is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document otherwise required by any state, local or regional agency, or federal agency to the extent permitted by federal law, and supersedes any applicable statute, ordinance, or regulation of any state, local, or regional agency, or federal agency to the extent permitted by federal law.

Contacts

Project Manager

Lisa Worrall
STEPsiting@energy.ca.gov
(Please enter project name in the email subject line)
916-661-8367

Public Participation Questions

Public Advisor
publicadvisor@energy.ca.gov
916-269-9595

Media Inquiries

Media & Public Communications Office
mediaoffice@energy.ca.gov
916-654-4989

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